Home » Car parking in Hungerford – nearly 100 spaces to be lost: February 2019 update

February 2019 update

Discussions continue between Hungerford Town Council, Network Rail and GWR about the details of the proposed new car-parking arrangements in Hungerford (see aerial photos below).

It now seems that the current temporary parking arrangements at the Oakes Bros site will continue at least until the summer of 2019 while the development plans are finalised. It’s therefore possible that the new car park will be ready for use before the Oakes Bros one closes.

Hungerford Town Council has also been instrumental in improving the drainage on the platforms. This reduce or eliminate the deep puddles that sometimes appeared at the bottom of the footbridge.

January 2019 update

We understand that Network Rail will be contacting Hungerford Town Council about the proposals mentioned below on or soon after 23 January.

It’s currently uncertain when the Oakes Bros car park will close preparatory to the start of the development. When we know we’ll give this wide publicity as this will clearly require a change of plan for those that currently park there.

Two sites have now been identified, one to the south and one to the north of the railway lines. The current proposals – and it must be stressed that at present they are just proposals and require further discussions, approvals and costsings – are shown on the two annotated aerial Google Maps photos below.

The proposals for the north side of the station include some features that don’t directly impact on car-parking but HTC has taken the view that there are advantages to seeing them as part of one project. As regards costs, HTC’s decision to join ACoRP means that sources of funding are now available which would not otherwise be.

Network Rail is expected to get back to HTC with its views on the proposals within the next two to three months. It’s therefore hoped that there’ll be a further announcement by the end of January.

September 2018 update

Hungerford Town Council has identified six possible sites for an additional car park. On closer examination it was felt that one presented fewer immediate obstacles than the others: this is the land to the north of the station between the railway line and the Saxon factory. The site is owned by Network Rail, which has said it supports the idea in principle, but leased to GWR which will therefore also need to be consulted. Space should be available here for about 100 cars. HTC is currently conducting a feasibility study.

Background

In 2013, Oakes Bros agreed to offer its long-derelict site near Hungerford Station to West Berkshire Council for use as a temporary car park. Oakes Bros’ long-term intention was always that the site would be developed. A three-year lease was agreed and nearly 100 parking spaces were created as a result. The lease lapsed in 2016 but the usage continued on the same basis. Many other landowners have been reluctant to lease land in such a way due to the problems of then recovering it, so Oakes Bros is to be commended for this.

Attempts to develop the site took longer than many would have liked, partly because of the restriction that the land be used only for commercial (not residential) purposes. However, recent changes in government policy to encourage homebuilding have recently contributed to plans being submitted which were approved in July 2018. This will result in 30 homes being built on this site and work is expected to begin fairly soon.

This will result in the loss of the temporary car-parking spaces. As these were always temporary – and as, since the lease lapsed, they technically haven’t existed at all – Hungerford is in some ways losing what it never truly had. This will, however, obviously have an impact on the town, the more so given the 100 imminent new homes in Salisbury Road, the improvements in the rail service due to the new bi-mode trains and natural growth in population and demand.

Perhaps because five different organisations – West Berkshire and Hungerford Councils, GWR, Network Rail and the landowners – were involved it proved difficult to make progress on identifying how Hungerford’s long-term parking problems could be solved. One solution might have been for West Berkshire or one of the rail companies to have acquired the land but for whatever reason this was not taken up and the opportunity has now passed. West Berkshire, and not Hungerford, Council is responsible for car-parking arrangements in and around the town: so it is West Berkshire that will ultimately need to decide what happens next.

Hungerford Town Council is aware and has been for some time that this is a serious matter. Many residents and traders have also expressed concerns. The most obvious risk is that station users park on the High Street or elsewhere, so reducing the spaces for shoppers and residents. “If 100 parking spaces are to be lost then another 100 need to be found if the town is to grow and prosper,” says Simon Evans who runs The Naked Grape wine merchants. Some changes to the High-Street regulations may also be needed. “Many towns have free parking for an hour or so,” says Christian Alba of the butcher’s shop, “and a maximum stay to deter commuters. It’s all a question of whether the intention is to encourage local businesses or not.”

In the light of these and other concerns, on 21 June 2018 the Chairman of Hungerford Town Council’s Highways and Transport Committee, Rob Brookman, requested a meeting with West Berkshire Council to discuss potential sites for a new car park. This is finally going to take place in late July. Hungerford Town Council is looking at a number of possible solutions including investigating the feasibility of introducing a park and ride scheme. For more on these, please scroll up to the top of this post.

Hungerford is currently creating a neighbourhood development plan – click here for more details – and it’s to be expected that the issue of parking spaces and their regulations will form a part of this.

This post will be updated as necessary. If you have anything you’d like to add please use the comments box below or email brian@pennypost.org.uk

This was written by Penny Post. Every effort has been made to provide a balanced summary but the post may contain opinions which do not reflect the views of the organisations mentioned in the text.

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8 Responses

As per the minutes of the WBC western area planning meeting the park and ride location being considered is the Triangle Field ( home of Hungerford Rugby Club and Hungerford Hares) at the very end of Priory Road, past John O Gaunt school.

As Trevor Wainwright commented I cannot see how this would wash its face financially and it makes little sense to me environmentally or logistically – the Triangle Field is outside the settlement boundary and a designated playing field supposedly protected by Sport England. Access would also involve navigating the High Street and the full length of Priory Road or alternatively accross Hungerford Common to then be transported back by (currently) non existent buses to the Station via the same route & up Park Street or back across the Common & down Park Street.

I guess a new road could be built to the West of the T own & I believe this was suggested in the original Salisbury Road plans which also included a new ( replacement) primary school behind JoG, and certainly would facilitate future housing development of the playing fields which were etained by WBC when JoG was made an academy and then fenced off.to prevent their use to circumvent the protection offered to playing fields.

Jan –
Thanks for your comment. I agree that a car park at the Triangle Field would be far from ideal for all the reasons you mention. I think some sites nearer the station (the best place for a station car park) are being explored by WBC and HTC but am not sure with what results. Any news will be added to this post.
Best,
Brian Quinn

It surprises me a little that, given that this was always going to be a temporary solution, we’ve waited till now to go into panic mode. I should have thought that 5 years would have been long enough to come up with something. When I was a member of the Hungerford Chamber back in 2010 the lack of parking was constantly on the agenda! Too many cooks maybe?

A fair point. As I mentioned, and as you suggest, there were five organisations involved and I don’t think this helped the decision-making. HTC was not oblivious to the problem but it seemed to have been difficult to get everyone’s attention when there were many more immediate issues to deal with. What Hungerford does about its parking arrangements will, I imagine, also be of interest to people in Kintbury and Bedwyn (and vice-versa). I understand that, of the various proposals made by HTC to WBC, one has been identified as the most viable. I don’t know which one this is but as soon as an announcement is made we’ll be updating the post.
Brian Quinn

Thanks for your comment.
This is, I think, one of the options being looked at by HTC. This was examined some years ago and was considered too expensive but now there are better and cheaper techniques available, I understand. It’s certainly an obvious candidate as it’s of a decent size and near the station.
Brian Quinn

Thanks for your comment. I don’t know about Swindon’s P&R, nor about what HTC might be considering. However, I think it’s worth looking at particularly with 100 new homes to the south of the town being a bit further than a comfortable walk to the station.
Brian Quinn

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